ARLINGTON, TEXAS — One by one, relatives hugged Cody Ross so tightly, so happily, that it seemed he had walked off the deck of a military ship, not into a downtown hotel lobby.

Ross has worn a Giants uniform for only two months, but he’s as much San Francisco lore these days as Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal. On 2nd St., leading up from AT&T Ballpark, vendors illegally hawk “Ross is Boss” shirts bearing the outfielder’s image.

That picture explains how we got here, to a football state, where a baseball team is stumbling toward the brink. The Rangers host their first World Series party tonight winless in the first two games. The Rangers are a great story — with recovering addicts, antlers and claws. But they don’t have the Giants’ mojo.

San Francisco is playing brilliantly. The next bad move manager Bruce Bochy makes will be the first.

“Good players,” said Bochy on Friday when asked why he has been so good this postseason.

But back to Ross for a second. As fans chanted his name in the hotel, Ross, wearing a black ski cap and T.J. Hooker sunglasses, smiled and signed autographs. There was a far different scene Aug. 30 in the Giants’ clubhouse. With Brian Wilson on the mound and San Francisco gripping a 1-0 lead against the Rockies, Ross goofed.

Carlos Gonzalez took a Paul Bunyan hack at a 96 mph fastball. It broke his bat, fooling Ross. He misjudged the ball, and it ended up a run-scoring triple, Gonzalez scoring as cutoff man Freddy Sanchez fired the throw into the dugout.

In a season that ended disappointingly for the Rockies, the Giants underscore the definition of good fortune and depth. Among the many reasons the Rockies spent October with their noses against the window pane — they were too top-heavy.

Carlos Gonzalez won the players choice award Friday — I told him he would Thursday — as the MLB’s best player. Troy Tulowitzki is the top shortstop. And Ubaldo Jimenez was among the top 10 pitchers in baseball last season. But to go deep into the playoffs, you need guys like Ross. Stories like former Rockie and left-handed specialist Javy Lopez.

That’s how Colorado advanced in 2007 — with a different star every night.

The Rangers are saying all the right things about the hole they dug. They believe they can recover. But let’s be honest: They aren’t winning four of the next five games against the Giants.

Ross and his merry band of misfits won’t allow it.

Footnotes. Pablo Sandoval, the Giants’ best player last season but reduced to an afterthought this year, will serve as the DH tonight. The Rockies’ bullpen doesn’t get a lot of attention, given the need for a right-handed bat, but Colorado will be adding pieces. Keep an eye on Toronto, where Kevin Gregg is eligible for free agency. The Rockies have always liked the right-hander. Rangers manager Ron Washington defended his decision not to use closer Neftali Feliz in Thursday’s loss. He hasn’t worked in more than a week. Wondering how big a deal the Rangers are right now? They were the lead story in sports in front of the Cowboys and Friday night high school football.

Troy is a former Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies beat writer for The Denver Post. He joined the news organization in 2002 as the Rockies' beat writer and became a Broncos beat writer in 2014 before assuming the lead role ahead of the 2015 season. He left The Post in 2015.

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